On December 31, 2021, the Newburgh Board of Education, by a 6-3 vote, approved a large payout for Schools Superintendent Roberto Padilla who was under investigation for misconduct.

Padilla, who had been on a paid leave since August, was given another 23 months of paid leave, extending to November of 2023. This was after the district paid $30,000 for an investigation into accusations that Padilla violated the district’s sexual harassment policy at a taxpayer-funded educator’s conference in San Diego, CA. That investigation, we were told, reached an “inconsistent conclusion.” No other information was ever provided.

Despite many requests and calls for transparency, the board remained silent. Padilla was simply allowed to resign, and continue to collect an annual salary of $300,000 while not working. Taxpayers, it was noted, had a right to be furious.

Those taxpayers will go to the polls next Tuesday to vote on a proposed budget that includes that $300,000 salary and the election of three school board members. Of the nine school board members who participated in that decision last December, two are on the ballot seeking re-election:

- Darren Stridiron voted against the buyout, and urged that formal charges be filed against Padilla. He later survived an apparent attempt by fellow school board members to remove him.

- Carol Maida voted in favor of the separate agreement that amounts to a payout. To date, she has offered no explanation other than the brief statement released by the board on Dec. 31, 2021.

Residents who vote in Tuesday’s election must decide for themselves if those board members acted in the best interest of the community as a whole: the taxpayers, the students and the staff of the Newburgh Enlarged City School District.

We must further decide if the $300,000 being paid to Padilla (and the maximum contract extension the board approved in July of 2021) was a mistake, and, if so, is it a mistake that we can afford to forgive?